Eurasian harvest mouse
Amazing fact
A Eurasian harvest mouse can grip a stem with its hind feet and tail, leaving its front paws free to collect food.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A Eurasian harvest mouse can grip a stem with its hind feet and tail, leaving its front paws free to collect food.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Eurasian harvest mouse
- Scientific name
- Micromys minutus
- Japanese name
- カヤネズミ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Micromys
It is the smallest mouse in Japan and lives in fields, rice paddies and riverbanks thick with grasses.
It weaves the leaves of grasses such as Japanese pampas grass into a round, ball-shaped nest, built at a height above the ground.
How the Eurasian harvest mouse lives
It alternates between sleeping and eating throughout the day and night. In summer, it also eats insects such as moths and caterpillars. It spends winter in holes it digs underground.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web上野動物園Basic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 54–79 mm
- Weight
- 6–14 g
- Diet
- Grass seeds, insects, and other foods
- Range
- Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and Japan
Where the Eurasian harvest mouse has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- カヤネズミ
- 简体中文
- 巢鼠
- 繁體中文
- 歐亞巢鼠
- 한국어
- 멧밭쥐
- Español
- Ratón espiguero
- Français
- Rat des moissons
- Deutsch
- Zwergmaus
- Italiano
- Topolino delle risaie
- العربية
- فأر الحصاد الأوروآسيوي
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Tikus panen eurasia
- Русский
- Мышь-малютка
- Türkçe
- Cüce Fare
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — カヤネズミChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Micromys minutusChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Eurasian harvest mouse, look for this
- Look for its brownish back and pale belly fur.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Eurasian harvest mouse
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Muridae
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